Getting a loan from Valley Bank in 1884, Phoenix, Arizona

It's 1884, and we're in Phoenix, Arizona, so let's go get a loan from Valley Bank. I hear that they have money to lend, and I'm a fine, upstanding citizen. Well, at least I look it. You may want to wait for me outside, here on Wall Street.

How do I look? Thank you! I want to look prosperous - you know, they only will lend you money if you look like you don't need it, like my rich uncle, who owns half of San Francisco. All I own is some worthless land near Los Angeles, called, if I recall, the San Fernando Valley. But I need some capital to buy a farm, or a ranch, here in Phoenix, which seems like the up-and-coming place!

I'll be right back! And may I say how fetching you look in that bustle! What? No, you don't need an umbrella, it doesn't rain much here in Phoenix. Oh, for fashion? I see.

I have to admit that it's an impressive building. Look at those bricks! Most of the buildings in Phoenix are adobe, so this must have cost a lot to build! Seems like a good name for a bank, but I'm thinking that it would be more impressive if they added the word "National" to it.

Well, they turned me down, and I'm not surprised. I showed them what I had for collateral, and they just laughed at me. They told me to come back in a hundred years when what I owned had some actual value. Can you imagine? Do you suppose that Valley Bank will still be around in 1984?

This image is from the 1964 reprint of the 1884 History of Arizona Territory, which I checked out from the Glendale Main Library today. By the way, Valley Bank lasted until 1992, when it was purchased by Bank One, and which is now Chase.

Wall Street was between Central Avenue and 1st Avenue, and Valley Bank was there until it moved to its Adams location in 1915, then to the Professional Building in 1931, and then to Valley Center in 1973, both of which are at Central and Monroe.

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